Hobart Hurricanes now hold both the WBBL and the BBL titles. While the women will continue to celebrate this win over the next few days, the men will now gear up to defend their title. Yes, the BBL begins tomorrow at Perth, with the Scorchers taking on Sydney Sixers. Like always, we will be there to call the action. Do join us at 12:45 PM tomorrow.
For now, it is the troika of Darpan Tikiya, Akshay Bhide and Bishal Mandal signing off. We hope you enjoyed the coverage. Keep following CREX for more cricketing action from around the globe. G'day!
4:59 PM IST, 10:21 PM local time: Ellyse Villani gets handed over the trophy and she wastes no time in gesturing to her mates to come up to the podium. They pose for the photograph with the captain in the centre and the confetti gun is set off. The support staff joins them too and the Dj continues to add flavour to the celebrations. It is a moment that these players will remember for a long time to come.
In 1969, when Apollo 11 was sent to the moon, two speeches had been prepared for US President Richard Nixon to read out — one for the success of the mission, one for the failure of it. Humanity was grateful for the fact that he did not have to read the other one.
Tonight, as Ellyse Villani said, she too had prepared two speeches and the Hurricanes' fans would be delighted that she did read the one about the successful finish.
Elyse Villani (Hobart Hurricanes Women Captain): "Before I say anything, I have two versions of the speech. I'm going to read the first one. It's a huge occasion for our organization. I'm reading this one.
I would like to thank Sophie and the Perth organization. Congratulations for making it to yet another final. I'm sure more good things are coming to you because you have a great organization that prides on doing its best.
A big thank you to Big Bash, Cricket Australia and WEBER for organizing such a tournament which inspires young kids to take up bat and ball. Thank you to all the role models in all the clubs.
The Cane Train, as we are affectionately known. It's a wonderful organization. We have the sponsors. We have the board members. We have the family and the fans. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for supporting us. You know how much we love representing Tasmania.
To everyone involved, thank you for firstly building and then backing us. We dared to dream and have bloody done it by going all the way. You three have played massive part in it. That in itself is a massive achievement. Thank you very much.
To our group, to all the 16 players who are involved in this journey. Thank you for playing your part and all the sacrifices you have made. The genuine love and care that everyone in this group has is just great."
Next up, the Hurricanes collect their medals one by one. Guess who's presenting them? No politician or big official, but little kids who have been nominated for this ceremony. They get to collect special caps from the players in return.
The match officials will now collect their souvenirs.
Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers Women captain): "First, I want to say huge congratulations to Ellyse Villani. What they were able to create here was fantastic. The crowd even gave us some. But to my crew, I think we can be proud of ourselves. Huge congratulations to Cricket Australia and the sponsors for putting up this competition. To the crowd, I know you hate us, but thank you for turning up. It is huge for the game of cricket. Scorchers will be back next year."
Lizelle Lee (Player of the Final): "Firstly, I would like to thank Jesus Christ. This team has been amazing. Credit to the bowlers and the fielders and I was happy to back it up.